Inscription(recto) T. Topham; June 24th 1916. (recto secondary support/support secondaire): This sketch was made a few yards from our battery position on the Albert - Braye way side.; This sketch damaged through being sent to England in a friend's haversack T.T.; CAPTIVE HUN OBSERVATION BALLOON; BECOURT WOOD; GUN POSITIONS IN DUGOUT; H.E. SHELLS BURSTING IN TRENCHES; THE WHITE PUFFS ARE SHRAPNEL; FRONT LINE TRENCHES SHEWING WHITE; FRICOURT VILLAGE LIES BEHIND THE FIRST TREETOP RIDGE; MAMETZ ON THE FAR HILLSIDE; VILLAGE OF BÉCIRDEK-BÉCOURT; edge of set in which we had two guns; (verso secondary support/support secondaire): Opening of the Somme Bombardment seen from the Albert-Bray Roadside.

The start of the Somme bombardment as seen from a roadside gun battery, 24 June 1916. The bombardment lasted a week and was intended to obliterate German defences and defenders. The artist, William Topham, depicts high explosive shells and white shrapnel bursts over the enemy lines, and provides a detailed description of his location. At this stage in the bombardment, the terrain, consisting mostly of farmers' fields, remains relatively unscathed.